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Monday, March 24, 2008

Nelson Algren Cover-up - $30,000 Payoff

Just in time for the Chicago author's 99th birthday on Friday, the Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service Area is conducting a competition for the design, manufacture and installation of a new cover for the Nelson Algren fountain at the Polish Triangle plaza at Milwaukee, Ashland and Division, with the objective of making:

the pedestrian park in the middle of this busy intersection more inviting, safe and useful by replacing the current dilapidated plywood cover with one that is artistic, colorful, functional and reusable year after year. Like the fountain in warmer months, the new cover could itself be one of the welcoming attractions encouraging visitors to the neighborhood through the winter months, when the fountain is inactive. Designs that suggest functional uses for the fountain cover are encouraged. The new fountain cover could also incorporate lighting, whether for seasonal purposes or for general ambient lighting. Perhaps the new cover can incorporate sound (music). The fountain basin is approximately 18 feet in diameter.

The budget for design, construction and materials is $30,000. May 5th is the deadline for registration, June 2 for first stage submissions, with up to 5K to be divvied up among five finalists. The winner is scheduled to be announced September 2nd, with late November set for the installation of the new cover. You can download the RFP here.

1 comment:

That damn Triangle is tragic. I catch the 9 there every morning, and you really can't imagine a more lackluster public space. The square might not be so dreary if not for the pitiful architecture of almost every building that abuts it. The MB Bank Building, the Chopin Theater, and its blue-green neoclassical neighbor are about the only buildings on the triangle worth a second glance. And, of course, the MB has that terribly unfortunate cinderblock makeover turning what were once undoubtedly beautiful arched windows into a veritable urban bunker with a fancy hat. It's such a transit nexus...the Triangle *really* deserves better. What breaks my heart are pictures like this:

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